At the beginning of the last regular meeting of the Herricks School Board, Board Vice President Christine Turner announced that the 3rd Annual Community Fund Dinner Dance would be held on Nov. 13 at the Swan Club. She further announced that raffles and tickets are now on sale at the main office at the Herricks Community Center.

Board President Paul Ehrbar then announced that the Herricks Homecoming Weekend would start on Oct. 16 and would culminate with an Oct. 17 football game at the Herricks High School field.

Annette Giarratani, a spokesperson for the New Hyde Park Wildcats Soccer Association, was on hand to speak on behalf of the Wildcats. She said, "I would like to express our gratitude for the long-term relationship that we have had with the Herricks schools. It has been an amicable relationship for the 20 years that we have been in operation. We have had the opportunity to use the fields both indoors and out at Center and Denton Street Schools."

Giarratani continued, "This year, however, there has been a concern by the athletic department at Herricks and, to a certain degree, justifiably so. I want to thank Mr. Ehrbar, who is the liaison for the Herricks School District, who has always availed himself on behalf of the board of education to have the children's athletic concerns and needs met and he has done that very fairly along with Athletic Director Robert Goldberg."

She went on: "There was a concern about Denton Avenue not being used by the New Hyde Park Wildcats Soccer Club. We have approximately 1400 children in our program. What has happened is that the members of the Herricks community have voiced a concern that they are not allowed to use Denton Avenue and the Community Center fields. This has been discussed at meetings that I have had with Mr. Goldberg, his assistant Camille Boccio and Mr. Ehrbar. The concern is that we have abused the field. We have always been very grateful and gracious and since you have not given us the permit this year we are hoping that perhaps you will consider it next year."

Giarratani continued, "We have taken a very vigilant approach. We have teams going to the fields and checking to see if our coaches have their permits with them. If they do not, even though they have permits, we tell them they cannot use the field. We have permits for noon until dusk on Sundays. We have checked both Center Street and the Community Center fields and have found people using the fields before that time and they are not our people and we just want you to know that."

"Not being able to use the fields for this season has jeopardized our season because we are not going to be able to use Denton Avenue indoors or outdoors for our programs. We are trying to find other fields and we have had to curtail some of our programs, " added Giarratani.

Giarratani concluded, "If there is anything that the board would like us to do, we would be more than happy to comply."

President Ehrbar said, "As I have explained, we appreciate what you are doing, following the guidelines."

Giarratani said, "Then at the next utilization of fields meeting in the spring may we request the use of the Denton Avenue and Center Street fields again?"

President Ehrbar said, "It is entirely the call of Athletic Director Robert Goldberg, but you are going in the right direction."

A Searingtown parent wanted to know if there was any further discussion about adding a Pre-K section to the district. Vice President Turner explained that there is an Early Childhood Committee and the report of that committee will be discussed at the next meeting to be held on Oct. 15.

The board adopted its goals for the 1998/99 school year which includes:

To provide a full range of instruction and support for every student consistent with the District's Mission Statement and the New York Learning Standards.

1. Student Needs

To provide support for academically at risk students while providing appropriate challenges for students of all levels of performance, stressing early identification, remediation and enrichment.

2. Curriculum and Instruction

To review and align our K-12 curriculum and instructional strategies with the New York State Learning Standards.

3. Staff Development

To plan staff development activities in conjunction with the faculty in each building, the Teacher Center and curriculum committees.

4. Community Awareness

To inform parents and students of the new K-12 Regents Learning Standards and Assessments and the revised high school graduation requirements.

The Mission Statement:

Herricks School District, a community of learners, through its educational programs, promotes intellectual curiosity and creative expression, values, diversity and measures success by one's personal development and contribution to society.

In commenting on the list of goals, Trustee Sutz said that she wanted to make sure the document included the Shared Decision Making Teams and the important role they play. Further, she said it was important to have both staff and student input and perhaps even a parent or student survey.

Vice President Turner suggested that graduates in college be sent a survey or questionnaire asking them where they are now and do they feel that high school prepared them for college.

The board accepted a gift of a Prince Tennis Ball Boy Machine to the district from Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Ratner. The machine will be used for both the girls and boys tennis teams and physical education classes.

Mr. Edward Friedlander, Chairman of the Committee of Special Education and his assistants then presented, in great detail the IDEA Implementation Plan which identifies the new components of the law and the required activities at the local school level.

Both Mr. Friedlander and his assistants went through each plan step by step, explaining in detail, how the new plan would be adopted by the professional staff.

A detailed copy of that lengthy plan was handed out to each resident at the meeting and any resident may obtain a copy of the plan at the administration office.

Further, the board granted authorization to conduct an Accessibility Survey. The last survey was conducted in 1993 and now the administration would like to contact the Industry/Labor Council, National Center for Disabilities Services to conduct an updated accessibility survey for the Herricks School.

The focus of the study would be to identify any new or remaining barriers to persons with mobility, hearing and visual disabilities and suggest cost-effective methods of eliminating them. The estimated time for conducting a reassessment of facility accessibility is 1.5 days. The fee for the survey and report will be $2,400 and will be paid for by an annual flow-through-money grant.

It was explained that the survey will specifically address the lack of elevators at the administration building and the high school.

The following music trips were approved:

High School Wind Ensemble trip to Ithaca. No school will be missed. The Wind Ensemble has been invited to participate in The Wind and Percussion Invitational Festival sponsored by Ithaca College. The students will leave on March 26 and return March 27. The cost will not exceed $150 per student for transportation, housing and four meals.

High School Orchestra and Chorus, Chamber Orchestra and Show Choir to Chicago.

The students will enter the Heritage Gateway Festival for adjudication and rating and attend a clinic run by members of the Northwestern University faculty. They will also visit and perform in a joint concert at New Trier High School, a school visited by Herricks students during a previous trip to Chicago.

The trip will take place from April 14 through April 18. Two days of school will be missed. The cost of the trip will not exceed $750 per student and it is hoped that this cost will be significantly reduced.

The Second Language Department is planning a trip for students studying French to Montreal on Nov. 7 through Nov. 10. The students will visit a French Canadian school where they will attend a French class with other Quebecois students. Travel will be by motor coach bus. The cost will range between $385 for 30 students or more to $435 for 20 students. Two days of school will be lost. The replacement for the retiring Mike Klopfner, who officially retired, but stayed on until a replacement was named, will take over for Oct. 26. At that time we will formally be introduced to her. Her main job will be to run the Herricks Community Center.

At the beginning of the meeting, in the 6:15 p.m. portion of routine business, Trustee Emilia Sutz questioned several items on the warrant; one explained was for service contracts for radios and telephones which are now on all the buses. Plus there was a service agreement, for equipment at the various schools that does not include parts and equipment. Since the amounts were high, Sutz wanted to know just exactly what they were for and Superintendent for Business Arline Visconti said that she would check on it.

Trustee Christine Turner questioned the amount of $3,250, tuition charged for a Child Care Center and it was explained that a special education child in the district attended that school during the summer

As mentioned before the next board meeting will be held at the Denton Avenue School and the agenda will include Review of Oct. 1 Elementary Enrollment Figures; Recommendations of Early Childhood Committee and Review of Resolutions for NYSSBA Convention.

On Oct. 29 the board will hold a Fireside Chat with the Board of Education. at the Community Center. At that time any and all topics may be discussed.